Karen Stevens

Karen Stevens was appointed Insurance & Savings Ombudsman ("ISO") in May 1998. The ISO Scheme is an independent service for resolving insurance and savings disputes, which is free to consumers.

Karen graduated with a BA and Law degree from Victoria University and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in 1987. While she lived in England in the mid 1980s, she worked as a lawyer in Cornwall and, on her return to New Zealand, she commenced practice as a solicitor with a large legal firm in 1989.

Karen gained prosecution experience under the Fair Trading Act 1986 with a secondment to the Commerce Commission. In 1994, she co-founded the firm of Stapleton Stevens, specialising in commercial litigation and ADR. In 1995 and 1996, she was also a part-time tutor in litigation and commercial law at Wellington Polytechnic.
Since her appointment as ISO, Karen has also qualified as an Associate of The Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand, a Member of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management.